Chapter Sixty-Eight: The World of Data and Information

"What are these?"
"They must be networks set up by the Monkey Beast to track our location."
Izzy studied the electronic workbench before him, explaining as he worked. Qin Fei, who had anticipated this, said nothing more. Instead, as black cables gathered from all directions, he recalled the intentions of the Molecular Beast.

"So, it knows exactly whatever we do here?"
Joe, struck by this realization, immediately grew anxious.
"Ah? Then we should hurry and escape... Everyone, quick, let's get out of here."
Mimi, equally tense, suggested as much, and her feet involuntarily began to move backward.
"Alright, alright, Mimi, calm down."
Sora prepared to comfort Mimi but then, remembering something, shot Qin Fei a glance.
Qin Fei was taken aback, then understood—Sora wanted him to calm Mimi.
Was it that, in their minds, he alone could handle her?
He sighed, too tired to explain, and spoke not just to Mimi but to all the children: "These black cables cover a wide area. At our speed, no matter how we run, we'll be caught. So, escaping makes little difference."
Seeing the group grow more somber, Qin Fei changed his tone and even smiled: "However, I've noticed something different. Perhaps we don't need to run at all."
"What have you found?"
The children, seeing Qin Fei so unperturbed, grew curious.
"The black cables beneath our feet seem to be malfunctioning, possibly disconnected from the Monkey Beast."
With everyone leaning in, Qin Fei explained: "I've encountered these cables before. When they sense the Holy Program on us, they react—wriggling, trembling, twisting... usually hidden underground and hard to detect."
"But now, the cables beneath us are too quiet, openly exposed as if waiting for us to notice."
"You mean someone wants us to find this circuit station? Why?"
Joe, reassured by Qin Fei's explanation, was still puzzled. If someone wanted them to discover this circuit workbench, what could the reason be?

"I think I know why."
Just as everyone was about to question Qin Fei further, Izzy's voice came suddenly, providing an answer.
All eyes turned to Izzy's computer.

"Help? What's this?"
Tai stared at the email Izzy had received, his expression puzzled.
"If someone can rescue me, I'll tell them where the crest is."
Izzy read the next line of the email aloud.
"The email mentions the crest?!"
"Who could this sender be?"

Clearly, everyone was stunned by the contents of the email.
Only Qin Fei remained calm; he knew the message was sent by the Molecular Beast. Its plan required the power of the chosen children to escape and then seek revenge against the Monkey Beast.
But now, the Monkey Beast would likely realize that the malfunctioning cables were caused by the Molecular Beast and soon trouble it.

"Let's go see who sent this email," Tai said, sounding braver than ever.
He was right; with no clues about the crest, they might as well check if the information from the email was genuine.

...

"What if it's an enemy trap?"
Along the way, Joe was nervous, a sense of unease lingering in his heart.
"But maybe the sender is like Elder Genai and wants to help us?"
Having received help from the Pixie Beast, Tai and his friends were unconsciously lowering their guard, a little more willing to trust the sender.

"Besides, the email says 'help.' We can't just ignore someone asking for rescue."
As they discussed, Izzy glanced at his beeping computer and said, "We're almost at the target."
Everyone immediately became alert, watching their surroundings and pressing forward.

"My Digi-Evolution Key is reacting!"
Suddenly, T.K.'s delighted voice rang out, and Matt, seeing his brother's glowing key, was overjoyed.
"Hmm~"
Patamon seemed to sense something and ran off to one side.
"T.K., over here, that's... it's the crest!"
Patamon's excited, incoherent cry drew everyone's attention.

Through a low canyon, T.K. holding his Digi-Evolution Key, finally found the crest's symbol on a rock wall.
The crest, sensing the arrival of the key, emitted a blinding light and transformed into a golden card that slotted into T.K.'s Digi-Evolution Key.

"Wonderful, it's my crest."
T.K. was especially happy, looking at his now complete key.

"..."

"This doesn't seem like a trap after all."
Tai, observing T.K.'s key, was increasingly inclined to trust the sender of the email.

"The last crest's whereabouts... Once we rescue him, he'll likely tell us."
"Alright! Let's hurry and save him!"

"Eh? What's that?"
Mimi's surprised cry interrupted their excitement.
Where T.K.'s crest had been, a perfectly shaped cavern appeared.
Its square, regular interior was unlike any natural formation.

Driven by curiosity, the children slowly entered the cave.

"This... this is!"
Izzy's expression changed suddenly, surprised by the mysterious symbols inside. He fell into thought.

"What's wrong, Izzy?"
"Wait a moment, let me examine these inscriptions."
The group followed Izzy's lead, scrutinizing the cave.

Before long, comparing the symbols with his computer records, Izzy spoke in astonishment: "That's right, these are the same characters found at Anduril Beast's factory and Centaur Beast's ruins."
"But... there’s one extra symbol..."
Izzy stepped forward and erased the symbol he thought was out of place.

"Wow!"
Everyone cried out as the passage lit up magically, revealing all its scenery.
Qin Fei admired Izzy's genius—so many symbols, yet he could understand, analyze, and use them.
It was hard to believe such work came from a ten-year-old.

Izzy continued to modify the runes, and soon a map appeared out of thin air, astonishing everyone.
Qin Fei knew that soon Izzy would state—or deduce—the explosive truth of this world.

"If you alter the wall's symbols, things like this appear... Something like this can't be done by computer, right?"
Joe scratched his head, as if all before him was beyond understanding.

"I don't know either."
Izzy turned to the group, his expression complex, as if he himself could hardly believe it: "I think... this world might be a place where data becomes tangible..."

"......"

Everyone was shaken by Izzy's words.
Only Qin Fei realized that Izzy's guess was already incredibly close to the truth.